Over the years, Lizzo has garnered attention for her provocative situations as well as her uplifting music.

British artist Mina Lioness and producer Justin Raisen accused the singer of plagiarism in 2017 and 2019 on her 2017 track “Truth Hurts” One of the song’s opening lines, “I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch” which Lioness and Raisen both claimed authoring credit for, was the subject of much dispute.

In August 2023, Lizzo, whose real name is Melissa Jefferson, faced criticism as well as three of her previous backup dancers launched a well-known lawsuit against her. The group sued the Grammy winner for a variety of reasons, including creating a hostile work environment, assault and discrimination based on handicap, and 𝑠e𝑥ual and religious harassment, according to court documents acquired by Us Weekly.

Later, she refuted the dancers’ allegations, saying they were “too outrageous not to be addressed” and that she was “not the villain” that the lawsuit portrayed her as.

See a recap of Lizzo’s highs and lows over the years by scrolling below:

Debut Album (May 2014)

Five years before her breakout record Cuz I Love You, Lizzo released her debut album, Lizzobangers.

Postmates Scandal (September 2019)

A few months after Cuz I Love You’s release, Lizzo received backlash for calling out a Postmates delivery person who stole her order. “Hey @Postmates this girl Tiffany W. stole my food. She lucky I don’t fight no more ” she tweeted at the time alongside a photo of the woman.

Some people were quick to criticize her inclusion of the Postmates worker’s photo in her tweet, with one Twitter user writing, “This is ridiculous Lizzo, u could have dealt with that privately instead of shaming a woman who was probably hungry. It’s only food u can reorder it.”

 

Another fan tweeted: “Publicly shaming someone in the service industry (esp. when you’re wealthy) is worse than stealing food.”

Others came to Lizzo’s defense as one fan wrote at the time, “Tiffany stole it, this is not fair.”

Postmates Support later replied to the singer’s complaint via Twitter. “Hi! We’re sorry to hear you’ve had a less than satisfactory experience on our app ” they tweeted.  “ Would you mind DM’ing the email address linked to your account, so we can look further into this for you? ”

Plagiarism Controversy (2017 – 2019)

Lizzo was initially accused of plagiarism for “Truth Hurts” in February 2017 after Lioness claimed she stole the song’s opening line from her tweet which read “I did a DNA test and found out I’m 100% that bitch.”

She followed up her accusation by tweeting Lizzo: “Now everyone believes those were your words, when in fact they were mine. My creativity, my wit and my comedy.”

 

Lizzo responded with a tweet of her own in February 2018. Truth Hurts was written in June fyi— someone made a meme on IG that said “I’m 100% that bitch and we were inspired, I give that meme credit when I talk about making the song,” she wrote. “I’ve never seen ur viral tweet but I’m glad it exists.”

Though Lioness ultimately received a writing credit for the track, Raisen later claimed the lyric was taken from a song that he and others helped Lizzo write in 2017 titled “Healthy.” Lizzo filed a lawsuit against Raisen and the group, which was ultimately settled privately in March 2022.

3 Grammy Wins (January 2020)

Lizzo won her first three Grammy Awards in the categories of Best Pop Solo Performance, Best Traditional R&B Performance, and Best Urban Contemporary Album. She was nominated in eight categories total.

Chris Brown Comments (October 2021)

Lizzo was filmed calling Chris Brown her “favorite person in the whole f—king world” while asking for a picture with the musician at an event. The encounter sparked backlash online due to Brown’s history of abusive behavior, most notably physically assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. Lizzo did not publicly address her comment at the time.

First Emmy Win (September 2022)

Lizzo found herself halfway to becoming an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winner after her reality competition series Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls won Best Competition Program at the 2022 Emmy Awards.

“When I was a little girl, all I wanted to see was me in the media. Someone fat like me, Black like me, beautiful like me,” she said while accepting the award on stage. “If I could go back and tell little Lizzo something, I’d be like, ‘You gonna see that person but, bitch, it’s gonna have to be you.’”

‘The Mandalorian’ Cameo (April 2023)

The Michigan native fulfilled her childhood dream of joining the Star Wars universe by appearing in an episode of The Mandalorian season 3 alongside Jack Black. “When I was a young girl my dad introduced me to Star Wars like a rite of passage. The trilogy’s are his favorite movies and quickly became mine,” she captioned a slideshow of pics from set via Instagram, including a selfie with one of her favorite characters, Baby Yoda (a.k.a. Grogu).

Her caption continued: “When Jon Favreau called me and offered the role of The Dutchess I cried all day wishing my dad was still with us cus he’d be so proud. Star Wars was a dream I never thought was possible— but thanks to Jon, Bryce [Dallas Howard] and everyone in the galaxy I am now part of the ever-expanding saga of the stars. I am in honorable company and forever grateful. This is The Way…. and May the Force be with you.”

Sexual Harassment Lawsuit (July 2023)

Lizzo’s former dancers Arianna Davis, Crystal Williams and Noelle Rodriguez filed a lawsuit against Lizzo, her tour company, Big Grrrl Big Touring, Inc. (BGBT) and dance captain Shirlene Quigley, claiming they experienced inappropriate behavior from the star and her staff during their time as backup dancers.

While competing on Watch Out for the Big Grrrls, Davis and Williams alleged that Quigley would “simulate oral 𝑠e𝑥 on a banana in front of the rest of the dance cast” and make multiple comments about Davis’ virginity. Additionally, they felt required to participate in a nude photo shoot out of fear that they would be eliminated for not doing so.

 

The group also claimed that while on tour with Lizzo, she took the dancers to a club in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. It was there that Lizzo “began inviting cast members to take turns touching the nude performers, catching dildos launched from the performers’ vaginas, and eating bananas protruding from the performers’ vaginas.” The court documents continued: “Lizzo then turned her attention to Ms. Davis and began pressuring Ms. Davis to touch the breasts of one of the nude women performing at the club.”

The lawsuit also lists other claims, such as Rodriguez losing her job for questioning Lizzo about the circumstances surrounding David and William’s terminations, David being fired from her position after allegedly filming a dance team meeting, and dancers not being permitted to take on other jobs while on tour even though they were not paid during the break.

Days after the lawsuit was filed, Lizzo called her former dancers’ accusations “false” in a lengthy statement. “These sensationalized stories are coming from former employees who have already publicly admitted that they were told their behavior on tour was inappropriate and unprofessional,” she stated. “As an artist, I have always been very passionate about what I do. I take my music and my performances seriously because at the end of the day, I only want to put out the best art that represents me and my fans.”

Lizzo went on to note that she’s had to make “hard decisions” with her team but has never intentionally made people not feel “valued as an important part of the team.” She concluded her statement by writing, “I’m hurt but I will not let the good work I’ve done in the world be overshadowed by this. I want to thank everyone who has reached out in support to lift me up during this difficult time.”

Seemingly Quitting Music

Lizzo took to Instagram in March 2024 to air her frustrations with her critics, seemingly quitting the entertainment industry in the process.

“I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” the lengthy statement began. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world be a little better than how I found it. But I’m starting to feel like the world doesn’t want me in it.”

The musician went on to say that she’s “constantly up against lies being told about me for clout & views” and feels like “the butt of the joke every single time because of how I look.”

She concluded the post: “I didn’t sign up for this s—t. I QUIT.”

The three backup dancers who are suing Lizzo for allegedly causing a hostile work environment and engaging in 𝑠e𝑥ual harassment later released a statement criticizing the article.

“It’s a joke that Lizzo would say she is being bullied by the internet when she should instead be taking an honest look at herself. Her latest post is just another outburst seeking attention and trying to deflect from her own failings as she continues to blame everyone else for the predicament she is in,” the dancers’ attorney Ron Zambrano said in a statement shared with multiple outlets. “She has thrown these childish tantrums before. No one actually believes she is quitting music.”

Stefan Friedman, a spokesperson for Lizzo, fired back with a statement of his own, telling Billboard, “With nearly half his case dismissed, 18 independent witnesses siding with Lizzo and no settlement on the way to get him his tasty contingency fee, Ron has started making wild personal attacks that have absolutely nothing to do with the clients who he is supposedly representing. We would humbly recommend that Ron start representing his clients and stop representing just himself.”